Adding MLS Functionality to LDS.org

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Written by Riley Hamilton

Friday, 03 February 2012

MLS Functionality

Historically, clerks and other Church leaders have been required to be at their respective meetinghouse to perform administrative work because the Member and Leader Services (MLS) software could only be accessed from the clerk’s PC located at the meetinghouse. As a result, many clerks and leaders complete their administrative work on Sunday to avoid travelling to the meetinghouse during the week. Simple reports like the New Member Report can only be viewed or printed at the meetinghouse.

In order to ease the administrative burden of Church leaders, MLS functions are being added to LDS.org. Church leaders and clerks can now access records, reports, and other helpful resources from any computer connected to the Internet. This effort supports access from home or other locations, decreasing travel costs and time commitments. Making it easier for leaders and clerks to perform their administrative responsibilities will allow them to spend more time ministering to members.

Access to these MLS functions is through the Leader Resources and Clerk Resources pages on LDS.org and is dependent on members having an LDS Account and being assigned the correct Church calling in MLS. For example, a bishop will be able to access confidential membership information and reports whereas his counselor will not.

Adding all MLS functions to LDS.org will take time, with the initial focus being on those that are membership record-keeping related. During this transition, MLS can still be used at the local unit and the two systems will be synchronized. In the future, quorum and auxiliary leaders will also be able to access on LDS.org the MLS functions that relate to their callings.

Leaders are encouraged to explore LDS.org > Tools > Leader Resources or Clerk Resources for a complete list of what is available. Four examples are shared below.

Quarterly Report: Quarterly report information can now be recorded and submitted. Past Quarterly Reports can also be viewed.

Key Indicators: A chart of key statistics, such as sacrament meeting attendance, home teaching, and endowed adults with temple recommends is now available. The Quarterly Report is the source of this Key Indicators information.

Action and Interview List: The list identifies actions that need to be taken by priesthood leaders, such as interview those coming of age for baptism and confirmation or Aaronic priesthood ordinations.

New Member Report: This report provides details about members assigned to a unit who were baptized and confirmed within the last 24 months and used to help nurture these new members.

For those interested in more information about MLS functionality being added to LDS.org, a series of training webinars will be offered in February. In addition, Church leaders can learn more by visiting the Clerk Wiki or the Leader Portal article on LDSTech. Additional support, including questions and interactive discussions, on clerk’s responsibilities and MLS can be found on the Clerk and Technology Support Forum. Leaders can also contact their Local Unit Support.

For more information, you are invited to attend an online training on this topic. The first broadcast will take place on February 3, 2012. For more information on training broadcast times, see Training Sessions for MLS Functionality on LDS.org.

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Comments

# Marc Armstrong Carmen 2012-02-03 10:21

Does this include any functionality related to home teaching like setting up home teaching lists or reporting home teaching? I am no longer in a position where I need this but this was one of the biggest hassles. When everyone wants to use the computer on Sunday you have very little time to make changes or even view all of your home teaching lists.

# Bryan Manwaring 2012-02-03 10:27

Currently home teaching information is not available through there. It would be nice to see that in the future.

# Andrew Calton Himmer 2012-02-03 15:49

I second Bryan's observation. Auxiliary leaders such as EQ and RS should be able to submit hometeaching and visiting teaching reports through LDS.org.

# Röhder 2012-02-04 22:27

I do much agree to your request. We found an intermediate solution to do that. We use teamviewer for our ward. With a whitelist of incoming ID's and password we are able to limit the users to those who are allowed to use the system. Secured by password, only the bishop and the clerk are able to handle the whitelist. It is possible to choose access for a member from all over the world or only from one special computer.
The computer of the ward/branch can be used, if it is online. But the computer can be logged off, so that members who enter clerks office still need the ward computer password. These different calibrations you can set yourselves in Teamviewer option. It is possible that more than one person can access at the same time. This is good for schooling. For this you give in your home options a shown name with your ID. So you can see who is at that moment on the ward computer.

# Röhder 2012-02-04 22:36

In addition to that we are able to use the ward printer to print out lists or protocols or what ever you like. You do not only have access to MLS, but also to the whole infrastructure of the wards computer system.

# Michael Brewerton 2012-02-05 21:02

I am an EQ President in my ward. Using Teamviewer would seems to be a wonderful solution to computer the congestion on Sunday. Even though I could access the machine during the week, it would be far more convenient to access the computer remotely from home.
With the almost constant changes with move ins and move outs we need to update home-teaching regularly. Not to mention record keeping for the quorum.
Is Teamviewer use allow by the church or do we simply need to discuss the option with the stake clerk?

# Stein Aanensen 2012-02-12 00:53

Hi there. We use exactly the same solution in Oslo Norway stake, but we have the STS (Stake Technology Specialist) to handle the white list. He keeps track of all ID's and erases those that donot need access anymore. It works brilliant for us. We have also set up user profiles in Windows 7 so regular users are not able to shut down the computer, only the administrator and the STS is the administrator for alle MLS pc's. We are then able to retain the quality of service on all machines.

# Reuben Dunn1 2012-03-14 23:14

Quoting Andrew Calton Himmer:

I second Bryan's observation. Auxiliary leaders such as EQ and RS should be able to submit hometeaching and visiting teaching reports through LDS.org.

This was mentioned in our Stake however the response is that even with the most basic level of access, there is information about members that may not be appropriate for EQ/RS/HPGL to see. Confidential information. The policy in our stake is that there should be a clerk physically present to log on and to insure that wandering fingers and eyes don't get the best of people.

There may be a way to directly submit reports into the system without having access to non essential information, but I suspect that it would entail a rewriting of the program, or the installation of some sort of new security firewall that tightens up access even further than it is at the moment.

# Kermit Kirby 2012-02-06 00:27

Did your family live in Chenango Bridge, attend church in Greene, at one time years ago??

# Reuben Waihi 2012-02-06 16:05

Not there at the moment, I am going in to the Chapel now so my HPGL can have a print out grrrrr lolol

# Rick Partridge 2012-02-09 07:03

Priesthood councils are addressing how best to utilize the web with regard to home and visiting teaching functionality. The Clerk Resources does not contain home or visiting teaching functionality at this time.

# Jennifer P Howell 2012-02-03 10:30

It would be wonderful to be able to work with the visiting teaching lists and to report visiting teaching from home rather than finding a time the computer is free at the church.

# Judy Slade 2012-02-06 20:09

I totally agree. We are required to have two people at all times when we are at the church (not to be alone) for saftey reasons. It is hard to find someone that is willing to go with you when you are doing visiting teaching reports, changes and etc. This often takes time to make changes and find sisters. Being able to do all of this at home would be hugh.

# Oscar Torres 2012-02-03 11:33

Los miembros de la presidencia de misión, consejeros y secretario? tienen acceso o permisos a esta herramientas. Ya que no tienen acceso a mls?

# Rick Partridge 2012-02-09 07:08

Sí, los presidentes de misión con responsabilidad es eclesiásticas y sus consejeros y secretarios tienen acceso a estas herramientas.

Somos capaces de determinar las misiones que tienen responsabilidad es eclesiásticas y proveer a los líderes con acceso a los recursos para secretarios.

# David Rathbun 2012-02-03 12:32

Love this. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on it. It's going to be a tremendous blessing not only to those who use it directly, but also to their families.

# Wilhelm 2012-02-03 13:50

This is real nice but concerned when "clerk" does his work at home and his wife looking over his shoulder and in no time my friends know what my tithing contribution is......

# Samuel B 2012-02-04 16:27

I think tithing and other offerings would still have to be done at the church building, because a member of the bishopric has to be present with the clerk and it's easiest to do right after church... but for membership stuff (requesting records when someone moves in, updating contact info, etc.) this will be really nice.

# Röhder 2012-02-04 22:45

I do not agree with you. A clerk is responsible for data privacy. This is so at church and at home. As a clerk as I am, I would never talk to my wife about members data and I would never allow her to look over my shoulder, when working from my home office. That would not fit with the church regulations for data privacy! Since every clerk could talk to his wife, you do not have a better security than the obligation of every clerk as priesthood holder to keep the data of every member to himself, secret and confidential.

# David Arthur Zielesch 2012-02-20 14:29

Wow... I thought WE were the only ones with this problem! When a wife shows up an auxilliary meeting and starts spouting stuff she shouldn't... the tempers flare. Seen this.....

# JConrad 2012-04-20 20:55

To Wilhelm: this would be no different than the bishops wife accidentally seeing an important and private email. They simply need to close the computer and walk away.

# zionssuburb 2012-02-04 17:05

Not enough and Not fast enough. We need more, stop any and all efforts in other areas until the (1) Ward Websites functionality has been replaced completely, and (2) ALL membership information can be entered into the online solution. There is an enhancement to the maps function currently... why? We are beta testing a tiny portion of the online tools for lesson schedules, it is trickling out... What clerk, Bishop or Executive Secretary would say, wow, we really need that lesson schedule NOW, who needs to have expanded auxiliary access to the online leader tools.....

# Zionssuburb2 2012-02-04 17:06

we have no Bishop or Stake President's corner... no blog for the members to get real-time data, no area to store common documents, we can't use the data to generate a decent Stake Directory of Leaders, No workflow solution for calling, sustaining and setting apart ward and branch callings, no flow when stake approval is required...where is our social media hang-out for youth and leaders to keep in touch, sure the old website is still available, but nobody is using it anymore with all the new stuff...

lds.org is being constantly updated but the clerk office is the most congested place in the church, people fighting for resources, and the current implementation does NOTHING to relieve the congestion, because NO auxiliary leaders have access to the online functions. Huzzah... I can submit the quarterly report online... but no auxiliaries can report their numbers online, how is that a step forward, it is still a manual process?

# Röhder 2012-02-04 22:50

look my information about Teamviewer.

# Zionssuburb3 2012-02-04 17:06

Also, We as dedicated Leaders and administrative staff DESERVE to see a roadmap for the development process, MAPS, Directory, Calendar, Online Leader Tools, etc..., understand priorities and have INPUT to at least portions of the direction. I understand that the GA's will always have final say, but sometimes it comes at a cost of volunteer hours away from families. Why aren't Stake Presidents and Bishops polled on development roadmaps?

# Suburb6 2012-02-04 17:07

I have been in callings to be intimately familiar with the transition from the old solution to MLS, and the beginning of the Stake and Ward Websites to LDS.ORG, I watched the development languish for years... in the last 5 years, development has taken off, We are moving ahead in leaps and bounds, I love it, I advocate for the adoption of multi-media learning in our Stake, I am the biggest fan of the website and developers at the church and defend them on every front... however, I do believe there are too many fronts, we are making only limited progress across these varied fronts, And sometime the greater progress seems to be with systems that are used minimally - maybe we need to regroup, refocus, move massively forward in an area or two..

# Last-Suburb 2012-02-04 17:25

Many people will read these comments and think, well, he just doesn't understand. So I'm going to list my bona-fides... I work for a large Enterprise software development company.. I get it... I work in the data center environment dealing with servers, network, storage for these hosting services... I live in this type of environment every day of my life, church or work.

# RW 2012-02-04 17:39

I wish the home and visiting teaching were higher on the schedule of things to move to the web. It has been a great blessing to wards I have seen use it. But the biggest problem with getting people to use it has been access to the ward computer. Web access would remove a great obstacle.

# Laralee 2012-02-04 17:50

Thank you for making all these tools available to us online. It's wonderful what you are accomplishing. I look forward to seeing the continued work as it comes out.

Do you know if some of these tools will also be available to the secretaries of auxiliaries? Like clerks we can do much to ease the administrative loads on our presidencies and these tools would help a lot with that goal.

Thanks again.

# Rick Partridge 2012-02-09 07:11

Quoting Laralee:

Do you know if some of these tools will also be available to the secretaries of auxiliaries?

Auxiliary leaders will have access in the future. Work is underway now to design the web content they would access.

# Gary S 2012-02-04 18:21

We solved this issue a long time ago by allowing Remote Desktop connections to the computer in the clerk's office and giving credentials to the clerk and others. As long as the computer is left on when people leave on Sunday, it's accessible all week long.

# Rich W. 2012-02-04 19:24

I think Gary S's comment illustrates that no matter how many times we're told NOT to use a risky procedure like this, some people are going to do it anyway because they see no reasonable alternative way of doing the things they need to do. :-(

# Guy G 2012-02-04 19:31

I agree, it would be great to have access to make HTing changes as well as log HT visits by group and quorum presidencies. I would also assume RS might like this too.
Thanks,
Guy

# Cary M 2012-02-04 20:17

After having served nearly six years as a bishop, I've lived through most of these MLS online changes. I was on the forefront of the online missionary recommendation forms. I applaud the folks for the work they are doing. No doubt things will continue to move on in a measured way.

It would be great to have the ability to enter home teaching and visit teaching changes (and statistics) into MLS. The bishop needs to approve of any changes, thus I think if HT and VT goes online, an email should be generated to the bishop to approve or reject (line item veto) the changes.

I think there is value to having membership records still entered in the clerks office. For me, I would have one-on-one discussions with my membership clerk and we could resolve issues right then.

# Jay Bingham 2012-02-05 20:30

@Cary M
I have not served as a Bishop, but have served as a membership clerk, a stake executive secretary and a High Priest group leader. I understand that the bishop needs to approve changes to home teaching and visiting teaching, that the church handbooks spell that out clearly, I think.
The current MLS system does not have a mechanism for entering proposed changes for the bishop to approve so I doubt that the online implementation will have such a mechanism either. Some might feel that it would be wonderful to have such a mechanism rather than having to use paper and a face-to-face visit or e-mail to accomplish this approval as is now the case. But I doubt that such a mechanism will be implemented. There are some things that are likely to remain in the old fashion paradigm, and talking to the bishop about home teaching and visiting teaching assignments is probably one of them.

# Jose Cajahuanca 2012-02-04 20:17

He usado esta herramienta desde que estuvo disponible y ha sido de gran ayuda. Las desiciones muchas veces se toman con mas rapidez despues de identificar cierta informacion ya sea en la casa o en la oficina o en la calle.

Lima Peru

# Edwin S. Case 2012-02-04 20:21

There is something I have wondered about for years. There is a process that could increase the accuracy of the MLS reports. The further down the chain that we get the information for our records, the more accurate they will be. Two questions that would accomplish this are to ask teachers to report to their secretaries, who will pass this information on to organization heads, that report to the clerk. Ask two questions: Who is on your roll, but has moved out. This will help to get records of members into their new wards. The other question is, who is attending, but are not on the printed roll, because they have moved into the ward. This will help to get records moved into their new wards. This will also allow these members to be called to a position.

# Tanya H. 2012-02-04 20:27

As a former R.S. Pres, VT Coordinator, Secretary, etc, etc. it would have been MORE than valuable to be able to access all aspects of the MLS from home (especially VT reporting, changes & reports). Even though I am located in the States, my meetinghouse is 40 minutes away. Add to this the fact that although I have a key to access the building & office, I am not supposed to be in the building alone without Priesthood. This is completely unrealistic. Being able to access remotely would solve a host of issues.

# CK 2012-02-05 00:25

Where in the world did the policy come from that says a woman shouldn't be alone in the building without a priesthood holder?

If it's a recommendation that women not be out alone in certain neighborhoods, etc., fine. But that a woman needs to have some sort of priesthood oversight to be in a church building is a little odd.

# my.own 2012-02-08 20:29

In our area, the requirement for priesthood is a matter of security, not oversight. We also make sure there are priesthood there on Relief Society Meeting nights and YW meetings. We also walk the sisters to their cars after dark. This is even done at the Temple. Wish it weren't so, but 'tis! If only the millennium would come.....

# GaryH 2012-02-04 20:31

There are 2 bugs in printing the Key Indicators Report.

First: When printed to hard copy, there is a second page that prints that contains 2 of the lines on the first page but without any grid behind it. It is the same data as on the first page.

Second, when printed to a PDF, the page is a blank sheet. Nothing on it.

# Joshua Kitterman 2012-02-07 20:28

Thanks for the feedback. I will log bugs on these issues. If you'd like, you can send me a "Private Message" (jkitterman) in the forum with your unit number, and I can troubleshoot the problem. https://tech.lds.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?112-Leader-and-Clerk-Resources

# Rick Partridge 2012-02-09 07:16

Quoting GaryH:

There are 2 bugs in printing the Key Indicators Report.

Thank you for reporting this. We will address these bugs (and a couple of others there as well) soon.

# Joshua Kitterman 2012-04-25 13:22

Quoting GaryH:

There are 2 bugs in printing the Key Indicators Report.

...

Second, when printed to a PDF, the page is a blank sheet. Nothing on it.

Currently, we do not provide a PDF version of the Key Indicators Report. However, that functionality will be available in the next release. I assume you must be using a PDF print driver, or a browser plugin to generate your PDF.

# RobW 2012-02-04 20:44

As a stake clerk, the online MLS applications have made a big difference for me. I have been promoting them to my ward clerks and membership clerks. As a database and software engineer, I would love to be working on bringing more of this functionality online.

# Ken Berg 2012-02-04 20:48

Editing capability needs to be added,to really make this useful.

# Rick Partridge 2012-02-09 07:17

Quoting Ken Berg:

Editing capability needs to be added,to really make this useful.

It's coming this year! As of now, you can edit ad[censored], phone numbers, and e-mail ad[censored] for your members online. You can also edit and submit the Quarterly Report online.

# Nick Goddard 2012-02-05 09:06

I applaud the idea of adding visiting and home teaching changes and reporting to the near future development on MLS. It seems to be winning the day for entries in this feedback. We live a very rural area and we have individuals from these leaderships, EQ, RS and HP, who spend five to six hours at church between block meetings, presidency meetings, ward council, PEC and data entry into MLS. As noted before it’s a fight to get computer time when people do not want to spend 1/2 to and 1 hour on the road commuting just to get uninterrupted time of on the computer. It would definitely reduce the burden of time away from families with this addition to MLS. Please make this a priority as soon as possible.

# Rick Partridge 2012-02-09 07:20

Quoting Nick Goddard:

As noted before it’s a fight to get computer time when people do not want to spend 1/2 to and 1 hour on the road commuting just to get uninterrupted time of on the computer. Please make this a priority as soon as possible.

This is an example of one of the biggest reasons we are doing this. We are hurrying as fast a prudently possible.

# Erin Whitworth Dyal 2012-02-12 20:16

Quoting Nick Goddard:

I applaud the idea of adding visiting and home teaching changes and

I second this. I was recently called as RS president in Panama (don't have a VT coordinator yet) and spent hours developing a spreadsheet to easily track VT. I missed a bunch of people regardless. Today within 25 minutes, I transferred the companionships and routes over to MLS. I passed out the lists and already have a bunch of changes. I have two small children, work full-time, and my most available time to take care of these changes is after the kids are in bed. I'm not heading back over to the Church because it's simply not feasible--plus, nobody else is there right now. It would be SO nice to do this from home, and even better if my future secretary and future VT coordinator could also do it. Thanks for working on it! (Also, please allow the enter/tab keys to replace using the mouse to click "accept".)

# Tyna Allen Woods 2012-11-05 10:11

Speaking as a newly called RS President I am most interested in working on VT related projects at home. It would be so efficient and more economical to not have to go to church and sign on to MLS. As a new president I am very unfamiliar with MLS capabilities. I need time to learn at home!!! It can be somewhat frightening to be in the Clerk's Office alone in the church during the middle of the day! What can I do to help get VT accessible on LDS.org?!

# RAIMUNDO SILVA DO NASCIMENTO 2012-02-05 15:22

muito bom isso vai ser de grande ajuda para a liderança local.

# bob m 2012-02-06 10:43

I can't wait for all these new features. It'll be fabulous. But to keep things in perspective, having to commute 40 min or spend several extra hours at church certainly doesn't compare to walking across the plains barefoot in the middle of the winter. We have beautiful church buildings to meet in that are heated and cooled.

# oscar cielo 2012-02-06 21:55

Esta opción esta genial para el obispado y para los secretarios ya que pueden tener Acceso al programa y vuelve más sencillo el trabajo del Obispado. Esta opción esta genial, a su vez hay unas opciones donde puedes tener instrucción con ayuda de vídeos de algunos líderes de la iglesia. Simplemente esta genial Gracias!!!

# Will Findlay 2012-02-08 08:27

Wow - I did not realize that the Bishop was supposed to approve all changes to home teaching. Can someone provide a reference?

# Will Findlay 2012-02-08 08:31

never mind, found it: http://www.lds.org/handbook/handbook-2-administering-the-church/melchizedek-priesthood?lang=eng&query=home+teaching+assignments#7.4.2

# Stein Aanensen 2012-02-12 00:15

Since the bank system in Norway is so well advanced and where cash is seldom used and checks do not exist anymore, we in Oslo stake, have been able to have the members to submit their tithes and offerings electronically via the banking system and cash is accepted only on fast Sundays. 95% of all titheds and offerings comes into our stake via the banking system. This saves the church a lot of money in banking fees and all bank statements as well as in- and outgoings are submitted to each financial clerk in every ward the next day via e-mail inside the church e-mail system. So in this well advanced environment, our financial clerks still have to travel to the meeting house to perform their work simply because they do not have access to MLS functions on-line. In Norway travelling distances to church meeting houses are huge and we are wondering how soon financial clerks also can enjoy the possibilites to perform many of their MLS tasks on-line?

# Ali Parrish 2012-02-12 19:20

It would be really nice to have would be an automatically generated ward council sheet/flowchart that shows who is serving in which callings. (Ward Mission Leader, Ward Music, EQ,RS,YM,YW,Sun day Sch,Primary Presidents, etc.) I serve in a YSA Stake where callings change VERY frequently as people move in and out. Something like this could really help promote collaboration among council members.

# Joshua Kitterman 2012-02-13 09:11

Callings are already visible in the application. They are read-only for now, but you will soon be able to update / call / release online. We don't currently have a single screen for viewing the Ward Council callings together, but I will log a request for that feature.

You can also view "Members with Callings" and "Members without Callings". These are available under the "Organizations" menu.

https://www.lds.org/mls/mbr/orgs/callings-by-organization.html?lang=eng

# Erin Whitworth Dyal 2012-02-12 20:30

How can I see the Leader Resources? I have been assigned my calling (RS President) in MLS but I can't see anything under "Tools" other than the Tools for General Membership.

Thoughts?

# Joshua Kitterman 2012-02-13 09:17

Sorry, the "Clerk Resources" application is not yet available to Relief Society or Elder's Quorum presidencies. Access will be coming online later in the year. When it does, you will most likely be able to see the birthday list, attendance rolls, etc.

You should already have access to the Ward Directory application ( https://www.lds.org/directory/ ), and the maps application ( http://www.lds.org/maps ). Hopefully, that will help in the meantime.

# Janine Perry 2012-02-21 09:10

PLEASE get the RS tools up. It is so hard to find time in the clerk's office to enter VT routes and companionship information. It would be wonderful to be able to do this from home.

# José Giraldez 2012-02-22 18:47

The information sets that standard positions will give access to this tool, but it only mentions Stake and Ward callings. Missions and Districts are not mentioned, and I tried without success to access the page. Is the expected scope of this application narrowed only to Stakes and Wards?

# Joshua Kitterman 2012-02-22 19:28

Quoting José Giraldez:

The information sets that standard positions will give access to this tool, but it only mentions Stake and Ward callings. Missions and Districts are not mentioned, and I tried without success to access the page. Is the expected scope of this application narrowed only to Stakes and Wards?

The applications are accessible to the specified leadership positions in a Stake, Ward, District, or Branch. Mission Presidents with stewardship over units also have access. What is the URL you are trying to access without success? I will also need to know your position to provide a complete answer to your question. Feel free to Private Message me in the forum https://tech.lds.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?112-Leader-and-Clerk-Resources if you prefer.

# Robert Whittaker 2012-02-26 10:20

This will probably seem like a very low priority type question.

Our Bishop, Ward Council and the ward membership have been challenged to know every child's name in the ward -- from Primary through Young Men and Young Women ages.

Presently they are taking photos of each child and will compile some kind of spreadsheet or handout with the photos thereon.

IS THERE ANY WAY THE DIRECTORY COULD BE USED TO ACCOMPLISH THIS? OUR MEMBERS HAVE NOT ENTERED ANY PHOTOS IN THE DIRECTORY TO DATE NOR EMAIL AD[censored], ETC.

Would appreciate your comments here and thanks so very much.

# Joshua Kitterman 2012-02-26 15:21

Quoting Robert Whittaker:

This will probably seem like a very low priority type question.

Our Bishop, Ward Council and the ward membership have been challenged to know every child's name in the ward -- from Primary through Young Men and Young Women ages.

Presently they are taking photos of each child and will compile some kind of spreadsheet or handout with the photos thereon.

IS THERE ANY WAY THE DIRECTORY COULD BE USED TO ACCOMPLISH THIS? OUR MEMBERS HAVE NOT ENTERED ANY PHOTOS IN THE DIRECTORY TO DATE NOR EMAIL AD[censored], ETC.

Would appreciate your comments here and thanks so very much.

This is a good question for the directory forum. Try asking your question there.

https://tech.lds.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?111-Directory

# Tracy Cox 2012-03-24 18:23

Getting this functionality online is going to be very beneficial. However, until this functionality is available, Is there an official statement or policy from the church on using tools like team viewer or LogMeIn?

# Scott H. 2012-05-02 14:01

To my understanding, logmein and other such programs are not permitted by the Church. There is a lot of sensitive data on clerk computers and so we run into a lot of privacy concerns if it can be accessed remotely.

# Steward Hogan 2012-04-27 19:05

One of the earlier comments spoke of the advantages of getting data into MLS & its successors at the lowest level in the organizational structure, eg secretary.

What I'd love to be able to do is to enter my home teaching visits when I come home from them (almost real time!) This could immediately roll up to my quorum, ward & stake leaders! They'll then know how recently needy members have been visited.

# Curtis D. Rindlisbacher 2012-05-22 08:06

Resources for Ward Mission Leaders:

Are there any plans to give Ward Mission Leaders access to the New Member Report and the list of Part-Member Families in a Ward?

Also, it would be extremely helpful to have the Progress Record and Teaching Record available on-line to update with those reports available to the Bishopric and Priesthood/Auxiliary Presidents.

# Trav 2012-06-19 14:54

I have to constantly battle the ward clerks for access to the computer on Sundays and have come in during the week only to find a clerk or member of the bishopric on the computer. Only having one computer to work on is also causing a couple of the ward clerks to give me the excuse that they can not come to EQ because they have to be on the computer. Not having access to MLS at home is well overdue. I live over 10 miles from the chapel and can't afford the time to check in and see if the computer is free for use. I am the EQ president at the moment. There are some that are saying that there is sensitive information that should not be viewed by some from home. My opinion is that if you have access to it at church and can print it out there what is the difference. We are all in positions of trust and confidence and if we can't be trusted with the information accessed from home then maybe we should not be in that calling.

# Tom Johnson 2012-06-19 15:05

Trav, thanks for sharing your feedback. We're definitely moving toward a better situation with access to MLS. Once it's online (all the components you need), you'll be able to use your own laptop or computer to access the data, whether from home or at the church.

# Trav 2012-06-19 15:13

Any idea on when this will be accessible?

# Tom Johnson 2012-06-19 15:16

No one knows the exact time, but I'm willing to bet that you'll see more relevant features (such as HT/VT) within a year. The financial component probably won't be in place for a couple of years. These are conservative estimates.

# Rick Partridge 2012-06-21 14:34

Quoting Trav:

Any idea on when this will be accessible?

The goal is to have all MLS membership and related functionality moved over to LDS.org by January 2014. This year we are establishing some foundational work; but toward the end of this year and into the next we will regularly release new content.

# Joel Beevers 2013-05-26 13:37

Quoting Rick Partridge:

Quoting Trav:
Any idea on when this will be accessible?

The goal is to have all MLS membership and related functionality moved over to LDS.org by January 2014. This year we are establishing some foundational work; but toward the end of this year and into the next we will regularly release new content.

So will this include being able to move records out rather than just in?

# SFran 2012-12-08 20:38

Quoting Trav:

...We are all in positions of trust and confidence and if we can't be trusted with the information accessed from home then maybe we should not be in that calling.

Amen. Trusted to use or create the information but not trusted to access it?

# Trav 2012-06-19 15:17

Are programs such as Teamviewer OK to install on the church computer as mentioned above? This would be a temporary solution if so. Also, is there a way to bring my own laptop into the church and somehow network into the church computer so that multiple users can access the computer?

# DaveP. 2012-09-09 10:36

I'm an Elder's Quorum President and like many others, I have problems getting to the computer at a decent time for Home Teaching updates. My ward has frequent move-ins / move-outs and it's difficult for me to keep up to date on the H.T. assignments. My attempts to access the computer, even in the middle of the week, is difficult as other ward leaders are anxious to access it as well. If there is a way to get the H.T. reports and assignments accessible through LDS.org sooner than later would be appreciated. Thanks.

# Brad Duncan 2012-09-29 10:03

Agreed, like others, I'm an EQ president as well and if nothing else, just the Home Teaching lists (and visiting teaching for RS) would be super useful to access via the web. I understand from an earlier comment that these must be approved by the Bishop, but at least let us look at them and submit preliminary assignments via the web. That way when we get to the church all we have to do is approve it and print it (we wouldn't even really need to print it there if it were available to view online). It sounds like the Church has it on their list, I personally can't wait for it! :-)

# Daniel Velasco 2013-03-03 00:57

Is it possible to encode tithing donations to this online MLS?

# Joshua Kitterman 2013-03-03 11:34

Quoting Daniel Velasco:

Is it possible to encode tithing donations to this online MLS?

Yes, this feature will be available online at some point

# Steve F 2013-04-11 21:23

I keep hearing for months now that Home Teaching Reports are moving to LDS.org so we can do them remotely.
What is delaying this very useful update to all of us that travel and have a difficult time getting to the Clerks office to enter our Hm Teaching reports?

# April R 2013-06-02 10:37

Looking forward to the much needed updates that will allow VTing reports and changes at home. Please, update us on when this will be made available.

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